Steve Hinnefeld blogs about education politics in Indiana. In this post, he reminds us that “culture war” legislation targets people, not just an abstraction called “culture.”
They call it a culture war, but it’s not culture that’s under attack. Republicans in the Indiana General Assembly have declared war on real people: teachers, librarians, students and, especially, trans kids and their families. They’re the ones who will be harmed if legislators get their way.
And several education culture-war bills have advanced at the mid-point of the session. Three are especially egregious: ACLU Indiana calls them part of a “slate of hate.” One would ban medical treatment for transgender children, one promotes book-banning, and another would force schools to “out” children over their gender identity.
Senate Bill 480 is the bill banning medical treatment for transgender children. It prohibits “gender transition procedures” for anyone under 18, barring not only surgery but the use of puberty blockers or hormones to delay developmental changes, even if parents approve the treatment. It’s arguably the worst of five anti-trans measuresstill alive in the legislature.
It is part of a wave of attacks on transgender people, especially children, that has spread from one state to another. Nearly two years ago, the American Medical Association spoke out against the bills, calling them “a dangerous intrusion into the practice of medicine.” A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found trans youth who received gender-affirming medical care, including hormone blockers, were much less likely to experience severe depression.
It’s ironic that Republicans, who claim to be the party of parents’ rights, are trampling on the right of parents to decide on their children’s medical treatment.
Senate Bill 12 is the book-banning bill, and I don’t use the term lightly. If it becomes law, teachers and librarians, if they are accused of providing books or materials that are “harmful to minors,” will no longer be able to argue they were acting as educators. Providing material that’s harmful to minors is a felony, so teachers and librarians will likely purge their shelves of books that anyone might challenge.
There’s sure to be a chilling effect on educators who don’t want to risk controversy. In fact, that’s the intent. “I hope it does have a chilling effect,” said the bill’s author, Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville.
The bill requires public and charter schools to compile lists of all the books in their classrooms and libraries and post them on their websites. And it makes schools set up procedures for parents to complain about the books and petition to have them removed. Supporters claimed school libraries contain pornography but provided no examples.
As West Lafayette attorney Doug Masson points out, the legislation doesn’t provide any pathway for parents who think their children’s access to serious reading material is being blocked by conservative activists and cautious school officials. In other words, there are rights for some parents, not for others.
House Bill 1608 is Indiana’s answer to Florida Gov. Ron DeSanitis’ “don’t say gay” law, but with anti-trans variations. The first part is simple: It bans any instruction on human sexuality for students in grades K-3.
The second part requires teachers to only refer to students by names and pronouns that are consistent with their assigned sex at birth, regardless of the students’ preference. And if any students should ask to change their “name, pronoun, title or other word to identify the student that is inconsistent with the student’s sex,” the school would have to notify parents.
I’m sympathetic to the idea that schools should keep parents informed about what’s going on with their children. But this is a sensitive area, and schools should have the flexibility to act in the best interest of their students. As ACLU staff attorney Harper Seldin writes, transgender youth face a real risk of rejection and even abuse by the adults who are supposed to care for them.
All three bills were approved by near party-line votes with one or two Republicans joining Democrats in voting against them. Committee hearings haven’t yet been scheduled for SB 480 and SB 12 in the House or for HB 1608 in the Senate.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Self-appointed language police back: it’s not people, it’s identity. Both self-professed and created. The bills identify the most vulnerable “other” and build a campaign to scapegoat, blame, further isolate, create enemies, declare their existence destroys or threatens something fundamental to them and do more despicable acts. Transgender, LGBTQ, Black, Latino (read: immigrant), feminists, environmentalists… This is one tactic of a larger strategy. We should call out each, but we need to tie it to the big picture over and over again. American history has proven over and over again that majorities of whites will use power to extract their own wealth and pleasure out of others, preferably ones who remain anonymous and with whom they will never have contact. By forcing identities on people and separating them by issue, they win.
It’s disappointing that Hinnefeld chooses to spread Pat Buchanan’s spin, “culture” war. We are witnessing in the red states, a power grab by right wing Catholics. They rile the GOP base to get votes for rule by an authoritarian patriarchy that is guilty of discrimination against women and LGBTQ and which has a history of colonialism.
Republican Sen. Jim Tomes’ education was at Mater Dei High School. He’s a member of the Knights of St. John. His religious affiliation is St. Wendel Catholic Church- Eucharistic minister.
Thank you for pointing that out. I’ve given up on pointing out the damage the acceptance of the term “culture wars” does to those who claim to oppose the concept.
I also want to thank you for continuously pointing out how the structure of the Catholic Church–and not it’s individual believers of the faith it preaches you attack, despite the attempts to put you in that false corner. How anyone can follow the dictates of structure that has been proven to be corrupt, with disproportionate and lasting damage to our governing processes, and how this mandated guidance mirrors the behavior of the cult baffles me. Here’s a good example. Focus just on Stefanik when she’s in the frame from 6:59-10:05. This is the look of a white woman who sells her soul for power and knows everything she espouses is a lie:
https://crooksandliars.com/2023/03/ivermectin-influencer-dies-ivermectin-use
“how the structure…insidiously corrupts democracy.”
Can’t blame that on WordPress.
Greg, I scoured the crooks and liars site to which you linked and could not find a video of Stepanik. Only one about Rudy.
I apologize, was sharing my Schadenfreude with a friend on that link.
This is better, has the whole hearing, begins at 1:58:00 through 2:03:15. Sorry!
One of the thing I found interesting about her demeanor was this. A normal person in the same situation would naturally turn their heads toward the speaker at some point during a statement. But you can tell that she makes the effort to stare ahead, to have plausible deniability when she eventually will need it. She will want to be in the picture when it’s good for her. Should things turn, she will use this as evidence that she was hold back her true feelings.
Interesting observation. She is a true cynic. Her background is stellar. She was briefly anti-Trump. She originally ran as a moderate. Then she saw the chance to take Liz Cheney’s spot and she dropped all her convictions.
Greg-
A traitor to American democracy is a legislator or judge who makes a superseding pledge to a king. A failure to expose and rid USA governance of those lawmakers and judges is tantamount to allowing the takeover of our nation.
From Wikipedia entry about the Knights of St. John, “The regimented organization pledges fealty to their king, Jesus Christ.”
It is past being too late to acknowledge that the right wing Catholic majority on SCOTUS governs based on capricious interpretations of what their deity wants and not on democratic rule.
Next time someone wants to paint you in a rhetorical corner, just copy that last paragraph and paste it. It answers and challenges anyone to deny it based on facts, experience, and what people actually say, intend and do. No need for anything else. Just keep repeating. Especially when they say you attack faith, individually or collectively. Seriously. I’m not being facetious.
The purpose in making the US a Christian nation is to codify
allegiance to a patriarchy of colonialists.
My only quibble is with the use of the word colonialists. I don’t think a historically accurate view of colonialists is known to them. Or if they do, they don’t want anyone else to know it. It’s a fiction they have created. Kind of like thinking the “good ole days” were Ozzie and Harriett or Ralph Kramden. Like Public Enemy once sang, “You never see a Black man on The Honeymooners.”
Greg,
I always take your insights seriously. My perception of the “colonialists” tag is that it references the exploiters, the slave owners and traders, the stealers of others’ rights and property,…
Only suggested addition: what THEY say the deity wants, their capriciousness is easier to predict.
These laws are also about using states rights to stir up the extremist factions in the GOP. They are targeting groups with little agency to stir up unrest, division and perhaps even hate. If people are busy fighting each other, they will be less likely to notice that the wealthy are working eliminate the common good.
While I agree with all you write, I would argue with the term “wealthy.” They benefit, but “working (to) eliminate the common good” should include all those who think, because of their self-perceived status they are superior, regardless of circumstances. LBJ knew it: “I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
This is EXACTLY what the Repugnican Party has done.
Thanks for reminding us about the quote.
Didn’t we use to call these political distractions “bread and circus.” Not much bread, but lots of circus. From the GOP perspective, the biggest dangers facing the nation today are trans people and drag shows.
It’s easier to scapegoat than to lead and stand for something other than dividing and conquering.
RT, you just summed up why education and people like you devote your lives to it fundamentally matter. It’s not just a job, despite everyone trying to make it one and succeeding.
Regarding teachers and students (the children of the working class and children born into families living in poverty), that war has been going on since President Teflon Ronald Reagan released the misleading cherry-picked data in “A Nation at Risk” report back in 1983.
Maybe we can add Nixon and Reagan’s wars against recreational drugs like marijuana to that list since the working class suffered the most from that one. That war increased the U.S. prison population about 400% from a quarter million annually to more than two million and most of the people going to prison were minorities and poor. That war also created a publicly funded private sector prison industry and lobbyists to keep the money and the prisoners flowing.
For public school teachers, their labor unions, and OUR children, Indiana is just another battle in a very long war funded by extreme right (theofascist and autocratic) billionaires.
If you think the Repugnicans are targeting people now, just wait until they control the House, the Senate, the Presidency, and the Extreme Court in 2025. It’s a possibility. IMAGINE, this party, the one that wants to END democracy, with total control.
Good point, Greg. Capriciousness implies a lack of intent. Vagary with self-serving intent is better.